cover image Spin the Sky

Spin the Sky

Jill MacKenzie. Sky Pony, $17.99 (352p) ISBN 978-1-5107-0686-6

Magnolia “Mags” Woodson, 18, has always turned to dance when things got bad. After Mags’s mother, a sometimes prostitute and constant drug addict, causes the death of the mayor’s daughter in a drug overdose, the reputations of Mags and her older sister, Rose, are tarnished, making life in Summerland, Ore., almost unbearable. But Mags has a plan: she is going to try out for a reality dance competition, Live to Dance, where she hopes to win over her town, in addition to the cash prize. Debut author MacKenzie, a former dancer, believably captures Mags’s overburdened and self-defeating voice, as well as her confusion over her crush on her (probably gay) best friend George and her petty jealousies involving others vying for George’s attentions. However, as realistic as Mags’s voice is, and as on-point MacKenzie’s descriptions of dance are, the narrative is slow and meandering. The story picks up once the competition begins, but Mags’s development as a character doesn’t really start until after her inevitable injury. Ages 12–up. [em]Agent: Victoria Marini, Gelfman Schneider (Nov.) [/em]